Wellhead equipment



Sept. 12, 1944. YANCEY 2,358,122

WELL HEAD EQUIPMENT Filed June 11, 1941 s Sheets-Sheet 1 Sept. 12, 1944. J. R. YANCEY 2,358,122

WELL HEAD EQUIPMENT Filed June 11, 1941 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 I flanges. The said substitutable means Patented Sept. 12, 1944 1 UNITED STATES, oFF' cE.

R I l I Q t 2 John R. Yancey, Houston,

Tex.,-.ass ignor to Gray I Tool Company, Houston, Tea a corporation of Texas Application June 11, 1941, serial No. $917,617: 2 Claims. (01 e e 14) Thi invention relates .to well head equipment and has as its purpose the effecting of certain economies therein.

Usual well head installations include one -or more casing heads and a tubing head, each of. the heads being provided with a heavy top flange designed for engagement, during the drilling operation, with control equipment. ,In the completed Well the superposed headshave to be pro- .vided'with expanded bottom flanges on the order of the top flanges of underlying heads- According tothe present invention, I equip the heads with removable top flanges or adaptersfor engagement in the usual manner with standard control equipment, and I provide a relatively less expensive means substitutable upon the removal of th control equipment and the said removable v are ordinarily in the form of lock-down means of suitable design, for the casing and tubing hangers. The invention is applicable, for example, to systems such as are disclosed in patents, Nos. 2,082,413, granted June 1, 1937, and 2,117,444, granted May 17, 1938, to Robert A. Mueller and myself. The manner of practice of the invention and the novel means provided are shown exem- Dlarily in the accompanying drawings, with reference to which the description will proceed.

In the drawings:

Figure 1 shows in elevation, partly in section, a lower casing head equipped'with an adapter in accordance with the invention, with superposed control equipment ready for drilling in.

Figure 2 shows the same equipment after the drilling operation and with an inner string of casing run in.

Figure 3 is a section of the casing head after the hanging of the inner string and with its adapter removed.

Figure 4 is an elevation partly in section of a succeeding stage wherein locking means, in this case a tubing head, is substituted for the adapter and is engaged with the inner casing hanger, the tubing head being provided with an adapter supporting control equipment ready for drilling in through the inner casing.

Figure 5 shows the equipment of Figure 4 with the tubing landed.

Figure 6 is a section of the casing and tubing heads with the tubing head adapter removed.

Figure 7 is a section showing the tubing head quipped with a lock-down ring for the tubing hanger, and

Figure 8 is an elevation of the final equipment.

Referring to the drawings, and first to Figure 5 head has. a lower tier. l5, or a packing ri a diameter as being equipped with'a hanger ment and adapter I! are t '1'. 1, reference numeral l0 designates an outer casing cemented in. and equipped at its upper end, by means of arcoupling. H, with a casing head [2 according to the'present invention. The casing passage portion 13 preferably at, least as large as ing 10, this passage portion being surmounted by an upwardly flared portion 14 constituting a hanger seat.- The seat 1-4 terminates upwardly in. an annular shoulder, 15 outwardly of which rises an integral internallythreaded upper'por- .tionlli. I

,The adapter member I! isin, the form of a ring havi g an internal diameter at least as great as, the maximum diameter, of the seat I4, the ring includingan externally threaded bottom neck l8 threaded in the portion I 6 and against the shoulngfon the latter. Also, member ll include ,a-heavy radial flange l9 which corresponds in size with thelflange 20 of a drilling master valve 2|, the two flanges being bolted together, with interposed packing means, in the usual manner. The drilling master valve 2| is surmounted, as here shown, by a blow-out preventer 22 and these pieces of control equipment have an available through passageway of large as that of the opening of member H.

In Figure 2 the drill has been withdrawn and an inner string of casing 23 run in, this string 24 having a, lower tapered portion 25 mating and engaged with seat l4, and a top upwardly tapered portion 26, the illustrated hanger being of a type shown in the patents above mentioned.

With the hanger 24 landed, the control equipprocedure to the stage shown in Figure 3.

Referring now to Figure 4, reference numeral 2! designates locking means, here shown as a seating against the upper taper 26 of hanger 24 so that aseal is provided between the'hanger and both heads. Body surmounted by an upwardly and outwardly flared conical seat 33 an annular shoulder 34 bounded outwardly by an internally threaded upper portion 35. adapter member 36, identical with member I! the inner diameter of the casremoved, bringing the which in turn is surmounted by except that it is smaller, is engaged with the upper end of body 28 with its flange portion of a size for bolting to a flange 31 of a drilling master valve 38 which in turn supports a blow-out preventer 39, the two having an available through passageway of a diameter as great as that of adapter 36 and greater than that of passage portion 32 of body 28. The drilling-in operation through the inner casing is now carried out. Each head has a bore, as here shown, as large as the casing to which it connects, in order to allow the passage of tools whose outside diameter is substantially as great as the inside diameter of the casing.

In Figure 5 the drill has been removed and tubing 40 has been run in, the tubing being equipped at its upper end with a hanger 4| tapered and equipped for sealing engagement with the seat 33. r

J With the tubing thus hung the control equipment'and adapter 36 are removed, bringing the procedure to the stage shown in Figure 6.

In the next stage, shown in Figure 7, a locking ring 42 is threaded into the upper end of body 28 into engagement with the top margins of hanger 4|. The upper end of the latter is internally threaded on a root diameter somewhat less than the diameter of the opening 43 of ring 42' so as to be readily engageable by the threaded end of the flow pipe 44 shown in the completed installation, Figure 8.

It will be evident that regardless of the number of casing strings, the adapter portion of each head, with its heavy expensive flange, may be salvaged, and the same applies to the expensive flange studs. Eachadapter is designed for connection withthe standard flange of the associated control equipment assembly, but can be readily removed for replacement by a considerablyless expensive member, which member may asserts be a portion, as at 29, of a head, or may be an entity in itself, as at 42, the members, in any case, being engageable with the same internal threads of the head with which the adapter was previously engaged. The saving in metal and consequent cost is substantial in all cases.

It will be understood that while I have illustrated the invention in at present preferred embodiment and procedure, variations are possible and consequently I do not limit myself to the disclosed form and relationship of parts except as in the following claims.

I claim:

1. Well head equipment comprising a casing or tubing head having an integral tapered seat therein spaced below its upper end, said head being internally enlarged above said seat and provided with threads, and a coupling member including a flange for connection with and the support of control equipment above said'head, said member-including an externally threaded neck'portion engageable with the threads of said head, said member having an opening permitting the passage therethrough of a hanger to said seat. a

2. Well head equipment associable' with a casing or tubing head for locking down a hanger supported by the head, said member comprising a body and a ring swiveled on said body and threadedly engageable with the head, said body having a tapered hanger seat spaced from its upper end and being internally enlarged above its said seat and provided with threads, and a coupling member including a portion engageable with said threads and a flange securable to the flange of control equipment above said head, said coupling member having an opening adapted to pass therethrough a hanger to said body seat.

' JOHN R. YANCEY.

comprising a member 

